Courtesy and Adjunct Faculty

Kay Crider

Adjunct Professor of Environmental Studies

Kay Crider has an undergraduate degree in environmental biology from the University of California at Santa Barbara, and a J.D. with a certificate in environmental and energy law from Chicago-Kent College of Law. While in law school she was a member and editor of the Law Review and was a law clerk for the Honorable Donald P. O’Connell. Her experience includes representation of the private sector as an associate and then capital partner at a large law firm, followed by a decade of work at a national forest conservation organization. In addition to teaching for the Environmental Studies Program, Kay teaches law to MBA students at the Lundquist College of Business Center for Sustainable Business Practices and works with non-profits on a variety of matters.

Steve Mital

Director of Sustainability

Steve Mital was hired as the University of Oregon’s first Director of Sustainability in 2007. Broadly speaking he works to reduce the university’s environmental footprint and expand opportunities for faculty, staff, and students to engage sustainability issues. Steve co-manages two sustainability grant funds, one for faculty and another for students. He also manages the University of Oregon’s obligations under the American College and University President’s Climate Commitment, which include developing a plan to eliminate UO’s greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. Prior to this position, Steve was an instructor in the Environmental Studies Program. During that time he founded and directed the Environmental Leadership Program which trains students to consult with non-profits, businesses, and government agencies on mapping, monitoring, and environmental education projects. Steve completed Masters degrees at the University of Oregon in Planning, Public Policy, and Management and Environmental Studies in 2001.

Alexandra Rempel

Courtesy Research Associate

Andie joins the Environmental Studies program after two years of practice in green building design, an experience revealing that even the lowest-energy buildings are large, expensive, long-term experiments in which performance data are rarely recorded. To bridge the gap between existing-building performance and new design, and to help regional architects and engineers develop passive heating, cooling, and ventilation systems with greater confidence, she is now documenting and modeling passive system performance in existing buildings and consulting on passive system designs. These efforts devote particular attention to the space-making potential of passive systems, as well as the restrictions they impose, so that they can be incorporated most effectively at the schematic design phase. This fall, she is co-teaching a new colloquium in the Honors College, “Energy in Transition”, which will investigate ways that societies adapt, or avoid adapting, to significant changes in their food and fuel sources. Andie’s previous research has involved mechanisms of microbial photosynthesis and respiration with applications in biohydrogen production, bioremediation, forest ecology, and atmospheric chemistry, and she welcomes discussions of ways that biological field strategies can inform field work in buildings. She holds an M.Arch. from the University of Oregon, a Ph.D. in Biology from MIT, and a B.A. in Biochemistry from Harvard College.